Avoiding parallel port paranoia (Windows all)

While USB and FireWire are the preferred technologies to connect external devices to your PC, you may be required to support older systems that use the parallel port for connections other than printing. On these systems, you should avoid daisy-chaining devices off the parallel port. Instead, install a second parallel port card and install one device per port. If you have more devices and use a switch box, make sure that all the cables and the switch box itself are IEEE-1284 compliant (not just compatible).